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New Toronto ward boundaries that would achieve voter parity are being challenged by two city councillors at the Ontario Municipal Board

Whether new ward boundaries will be in place for the 2018 municipal election will hinge on OMB hearing dates.

Both Councillor Justin Di Ciano (Ward 5, Etobicoke Lakeshore) and Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West) have officially appealed a bylaw, that would redraw ward boundaries and bring the number of wards to 47 from 44, at the Ontario Municipal Board, the Star has learned. (Toronto Star file photo)

Two city councillors are challenging a redrawing of ward boundaries in a move that could put at risk Toronto council’s desire to have new wards in place for the 2018 municipal election.

Both Councillor Justin Di Ciano (Ward 5, Etobicoke Lakeshore) and Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West) have officially appealed a bylaw, which would redraw ward boundaries and bring the number of wards to 47 from 44, at the Ontario Municipal Board, the Star has learned.

They are joined by several city residents who have individual concerns with the boundaries and the more than two-year consultative process to determine the shape of the new wards.

“I am deeply concerned as to the proposal by the City of Toronto to redraw the existing ward boundaries and how it might affect community integration and proper representation of residents of the City of Toronto,” reads a letter from Di Ciano dated March 30.

On Monday, lawyers for the appellants argued over potential dates for a full hearing at the OMB — a powerful quasi-judicial tribunal that deals with land-use disputes and other matters.

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The city has said all the appeals need to be resolved by Jan. 1 in order to have the new boundaries in place for the 2018 general election next October.

OMB adjudicators at the hearing, Hugh Wilkins and Karlene Hussey, said the only window for a lengthy hearing available before that deadline begins Oct. 10.

But Di Ciano’s lawyer, lawyers representing other residents and Mammoliti, who was representing himself, argued that date did not give appellants enough time to gather the evidence to make arguments.

Another pre-hearing is scheduled for Aug. 21.

Council approved the new boundaries in a 28-13 vote in November. The process began after a 2013 challenge that the current boundaries do not achieve voter parity. Because the current 44 wards, which haven’t changed since 1999, are disproportionately populated, especially following residential booms downtown and elsewhere, the concern is that all votes are effectively not equal.

The 47-ward option approved by council was the one recommended by a team of city-hired consultants.

In his letter, Di Ciano references concerns about his own ward and that the new boundaries remove a “large area at the western portion of the ward and force its realignment” into the neighbouring Ward 3 (Etobicoke Centre).

That realignment of the area west of Hwy. 427, Di Ciano wrote, would be “improper.”

“The important relationships of where residents travel, commute, shop, daily activities and recreate is being negatively affected without proper justification,” the letter reads.

Redistributing that part of Ward 5 would also mean Di Ciano would no longer be a resident of his own ward, which is not mentioned in his letter.

The Laurel Ave. home Di Ciano purchased in 2014, according to public records, sits north of Bloor St., beyond where the new northern boundary of the ward would be moved.

The city’s election rules do not require that candidates live in the ward they are running in, just that they be residents of Toronto.

In contentious election races, whether a candidate lives within the community they are seeking to represent has become an issue for debate.

In an email, Di Ciano noted several current councillors don’t live in the wards they represent and still serve their constituents well.

“My preference would be to live in and represent Ward 5, but ultimately that is not an argument I intend to advance before the OMB, and my appeal is not about whether I live in the ward,” he wrote.

Mammoliti did not outline ward-specific concerns in his letter to the board dated May 5.

“The bylaw was rushed and has many flaws,” Mammoliti’s letter reads, outlining what he called “minimal” consultations with the public. “Geography, community history, community interest and the representation of minority groups are issues that were not given adequate weight.”

Both Mammoliti and Di Ciano noted in their letters, in almost identical language, that a redrawing that would have created fewer wards and therefore fewer councillors was not properly pursued.

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